


Run

by Sami_Leigh



Category: Waterloo Road (TV)
Genre: Eventual teacher/pupil relationship, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-12
Updated: 2012-09-18
Packaged: 2017-11-27 11:23:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/661428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sami_Leigh/pseuds/Sami_Leigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spencer George has always been trouble. When Waterloo Road merges with John Foster's in her final year, someone tries to convince her otherwise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite of Dirty Little Secret that I previously posted over on FF.net. The main reason why I decided to rewrite it was because I was unhappy with the way that the plot worked out to be in the first six chapters. I just felt that it got straight into the story for my liking, and it was my first proper attempt at fanfiction so I guess that's why it happened. I've changed a few things, the main ones being my OC's name and personality as well as being set in series 5 this time around instead of 6 like the original. 
> 
> I've actually got myself a beta, Louise, this time round and she's been fantastic with me so far! Any feedback or reviews in any way would be greatly appreciated too.

_How dare you say that my behaviour is unacceptable,_

_So condescending, unnecessarily critical,_

_I have the tendency of getting very physical,_

_So watch your step cause if I do, you need a miracle._

* * *

On the first day of term, Spencer eventually opened her eyes at 8. She took one look at her alarm clock and instantly jumped out of bed. 'Shit,' she muttered to herself as she ran down the stairs. She was really late and her sister had already left without her. It took about ten minutes for her to drive to school at this time of the morning, give or take an extra ten for the amount of traffic on the road as well. Repeatedly swearing to herself under her breath, she grabbed the carton of orange juice out of the fridge and drinking the remains of it. She never really got hangovers, but her head was pounding from the night before. She was guaranteed to be late for school anyway, so she had no problem with digging around in the kitchen cupboards for some paracetamol and quickly gulping two of them down with a glass of water. Once that was done, she ran back up the stairs and into the bathroom. She could afford to miss assembly, as there was no chance of her wanting to sit and listen to Miss Mason drone on to them about the school rules again like she had every time they came back after the summer holidays, so Spencer quickly took off her pyjamas and hopped into the shower, turning the water on and happily singing to herself.

When she was out of the shower and had dried off, Spencer brushed her teeth and dried her hair. She then got dressed as fast as possible, grabbing the books she needed for the day and racing back down the stairs. She shoved her books into her bag and picked up her keys, then headed out the front door with her bag slung over one shoulder as she locked up.

* * *

Once she'd parked her car and got out her bag, Spencer headed inside school to find everyone walking out of the hall and down the corridors towards their first class of the day. She leaned against the wall a couple of metres away from the doors, unwrapping a piece of chewing gum she'd left over from last night and popping it into her mouth as she waited for Nat and Kate. Her eyes scanned through the stream of students as they wandered past her, searching for Kate's bright red hair.

After a couple of minutes, she spotted her two best friends heading straight towards her. A relieved smile appeared on her face, and she moved forwards slightly so that they'd be able to spot her.

'Good morning, sleepyhead!' Kate's thick Irish accent rang into Spencer's ear seconds later as she playfully ruffled her hair.

'How many times have I told you to stop doing that?' Spencer grumbled, fixing her hair. 'Have I missed much?'

'Nah, just some stupid peace lecture about the merger.' Nat pulled a face, beginning to lead the way towards their form room.

'If you ask me, they're all snobs who think they can run this place. Or at least, that new 'executive head' definitely is.' Kate rolled her eyes, falling into step with Spencer. 'You should've seen the look on his face when the John Foster's kids started clapping the moment he came in the door.'

'Let me guess, he pulled all that zero tolerance crap like they all do,' Spencer grinned. 'I give it a week tops before they go running back to where they came from.'

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the three of them emerged from their form room with their brand new timetables in their hands. After a bit of complaining from Spencer, they began to slowly amble down the corridor.

'Who've we got first?' Spencer asked, not bothering to look up as she furiously typed out a text on her BlackBerry.

'Chemistry with Mead, apparently,' Kate replied, examining the timetable that Spencer had shoved under her nose with her free hand.

'Who's that?' Spencer looked up for a moment, peering at the sheet of paper in front of her.

'New Deputy Head. He's from that posh school we've merged with.' Spencer heard Nat say as she diverted her attention back to her phone.

'Fantastic, another posh bastard who probably can't even do his job properly,' she replied sarcastically, looking back up again for a moment to find knowing smirks plastered across her two best mates' faces.

'Believe me when I say I bet he's hardly gonna be like that, judging by what we saw in assembly this morning!' Kate grinned, winking at Spencer. 'Just you wait and see.'

Eventually the three of them reached the same science classroom that they'd had lessons in for the past three years, casually strolling through the door five minutes into the lesson. All the rest of their class were already seated in the same places as they had been last year, leaving the three of them their usual ones at the very back of the room.

'Would the three of you care to give me a reason as to why you're so late?' A thick Mancunian accent called from the front as they dumped their bags on their desks. Spencer rolled her eyes and without looking up, she instantly replied 'not really, no.' A few whispers went around the class and she smirked, pulling out a pen and a scrap of lined paper. 'Besides, we clearly haven't missed out on much.' Tucking her hair behind her ears, she looked up to find a tallish, black-haired guy stood at the front with his hands on his hips, looking at her with raised eyebrows. Examining what she could see of his top half and his face, she felt a flush creeping up her neck.  _My_ God _, he's hot_ , she thought to herself, turning her head to shoot Kate a grin that said she knew exactly what she'd meant just a few minutes ago.

'Ah, so you must be Spencer,' she heard Mead say and she looked back towards the front of the classroom. 'Yeah. Problem?' She replied smoothly, raising an eyebrow.

'You seem to have a bit of a reputation here,' Mr Mead said. Spencer smirked again, fighting back the urge to laugh. 'I just wanted to let you know that I won't tolerate you, or anybody else, misbehaving in this class.'

Spencer snorted indignantly. 'I'd like to see you try.'

'And the same goes for an attitude like that.'

The class had lapsed into silence, and the two of them exchanged a heated glance. After an extended pause, Mr Mead walked back to the whiteboard and looked around at the class. 'Anyway, as I was saying.. Welcome to A2 Chemistry. My name's Mr Mead, and I'm going to be your teacher this year. I've not had the chance to look at each of your individual grades just yet but I'll be doing that within the next couple of days. All I know is that every single one of you managed to pass the AS course last year, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting in front of me right now.'

Spencer stifled a yawn, resting her head against the desk in front of her and making Nat and Kate giggle. 'Spencer,' Mead called. 'First warning. Two more and you're going straight to the Cooler.'

'What? 'S not my fault I've got a hangover!' Spencer shot back, not bothering to move. 'And so have you, by the look of you.'

'Right, second warning. I was going to hand the exercise books out myself, but I'm sure you're perfectly capable.'

Spencer just glared at him, shifting slightly in her chair. Nat nudged her in the ribs and she examined Mead's face. He still looked fairly calm, but she could see irritation beginning to etch at his features. 'Ugh, fine.' She groaned, pushing her chair back and standing up. She walked as slowly as she possibly could towards him, dragging her feet.

'Anytime today would be nice.'

Okay,  _now_  he was getting a bit pissed off, she noted smugly. She bit her tongue to stop herself from talking back to him and purposely walked even more slowly.

'Up here, now. Otherwise I'll have to come and drag you up here.'

'Well, I certainly wouldn't mind.' She grinned, allowing a touch of flirtation to make its' way into her voice. 'Alright, I'm coming,' she sighed, trying and failing to stop herself from laughing at the look on his face. She sped up to the normal pace, standing directly in front of him when she reached the front. She didn't say anything, just allowed her eyes to scan his face. Her gaze swept over the dimples in his cheeks; his dark, raised eyebrows and lingered on his lips.  _Christ, he's_ absolutely _gorgeous_ , she thought to herself.

'Over there, just on top of my desk.' He said plainly, snapping her out of her reverie.

'Sorry?' A grin tugged at the corners of her mouth as she instantly thought of a completely different meaning to what he'd just said.

'Exercise books. And hurry up, you're holding the class up here.' She could hear the irritation in his voice, but she couldn't resist quickly looking him up and down before turning around and picking the new exercise books up from his desk beside her.

As she placed a book on each of her classmates' desks, Spencer tuned out and allowed Mr Mead's voice to wash over her. She distracted herself by thinking of her plans for the weekend and attempting to remember what her next lesson was until she reached the back where she should've been sat beside Nat and Kate. She placed the remaining three new books in a pile next to Kate and walked back around their desk, sitting down again. Some kind of equation had been scribbled onto the board and everyone seemed to be frantically writing it down. Spencer knew that she should be doing the same, but decided to pull her phone out of her pocket and continue to text one of her friends who attended the local college.

The next thing she knew, the classroom had fallen completely silent again. Spencer cautiously looked up, wincing when she saw Mr Mead stood opposite her, his hands on his hips.

'Phone, please.' He said firmly, taking a hand away and sticking it out in front of her.

'No.'

She heard him sigh, the same look that read 'I'm going to lose my patience with you any second now' as earlier on appearing on his face again.

'Can't I at least finish my text first?' She asked innocently, grinning at him. Her smile widened when she noticed something inside him snap.

'Alright, that's it. Go to the Cooler. I'll deal with you in a minute.'

'I'm sure you will.' Spencer stood up, winking playfully at him. She made a point of packing her things into her bag at the slowest pace possible, purposely leaving her empty exercise book on the desk. 'You can keep the book,' she smiled. 'I'm hardly going to be using it for the rest of the year.' Not bothering to give Mr Mead the chance to reply, she slung her bag back over her shoulder and walked out of the classroom.

She felt a part of herself completely relax as soon as she'd begun to walk down the corridor. She'd always hated Chemistry, despite coming top in Year 10 and 11 and ending up with an A at GCSE. She'd only done the subject last and this year just to shut her parents up, plus it was another subject to have for applying to uni. Sighing to herself, she hitched her bag up her shoulder a little. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice calling out her name and she turned around, smiling.

'Spence? Where are you going?' Tom - Mr Clarkson - asked her.

'Cooler, sir. Mr Mead sent me.' Spencer couldn't help feeling slightly ashamed when she saw the look on his face. He was one of the only teachers who she actually got on with and she hated letting him down like this.

'Why? What's happened?' He frowned, concerned.

'Oh, nothing. Ask him yourself.' She couldn't help sounding pissed off, seeing as she felt that he'd barely given her a chance before deciding to kick her out of the lesson. 'It's not like I didn't do anything I wouldn't normally do. Even though he doesn't really know that. He's just judging me on my fucking 'reputation', I swear!'

'Hey, come on.. I'm sure he's not doing that.' Mr Clarkson put a hand on Spencer's shoulder, steering her forwards slightly. 'Look, let's just go to the Cooler and get you calmed down a bit, okay? I'll come sit with you for a while and have a word with him when he gets there.'

'Alright..' Spencer sighed, folding her arms and starting to lead the way down the next corridor.

'So.. How're you finding the merger?' Mr Clarkson asked, walking alongside her.

'I dunno, really.. Haven't met many of the John Foster's lot. I, um.. I was late this morning.'

'Of course you were.' Mr Clarkson laughed. 'Don't tell anyone I said this, but let's just say that some of the staff aren't entirely pleasant.'

'Well, that makes me feel a bit better..' Spencer giggled, feeling her anger beginning to ebb away slightly. 'Apparently the kids are just as bad.'

The pair of them chatted for the rest of the way down to the Cooler. Spencer knew that Mr Clarkson was trying to make her feel calmer about what had just happened in Chemistry, but it was still bugging her. Just because the John Foster's kids were little swots and were too scared to say anything to their teachers, that didn't mean that Mead had to treat her the way he did. Who did he think he was?

A small tap on her shoulder reminded her where they were and Mr Clarkson opened the Cooler door, allowing her to pass through first. She gave him a small smile and sat down in the nearest chair, feeling her anger beginning to boil up inside her again.

'Did Mr Mead give you anything to do in here?'

'No. He said 'I'll deal with you in a minute.' I can't really do anything anyway, seeing as I left my book back in the classroom.' She sighed, putting her feet up on the desk.

'Alright. Well, like I said, I'll have a word when he gets down here.'

'Thanks.'

They spent the next couple of minutes in an awkward silence, until Spencer saw Mr Mead coming down the corridor.

'Oh, for God's sake..' She muttered, folding her arms again. Mr Clarkson just gave her a look that told her that she needed to give it a chance but she just rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair.

Moments later, Mr Mead walked through the door. Spencer sighed again, trying to avoid his eyes.

'Tom? What're you doing here?' She heard him ask, surprised.

'Just bumped into Spence on her way down here. Thought I could help calm her down a bit, that's all. Before you speak to her, d'you mind if I have a word with you? Outside?'

'Uh.. Right. Spencer, I'll be right back, okay?'

She just grunted in response, keeping her eyes on the desk in front of her. She heard the scrape of Mr Clarkson's chair on the floor and the two teachers stepped outside into the corridor. She was interested in what he had to say but she knew that she didn't need to get up and press her ear to the door, seeing as the school corridors were known for echoing whatever was being said.

'Look, before you go back in there and start having a go at her, I just wanted to say that deep down, she's really a good kid. She had a really hard time last year. She's already angry enough, and I don't think that yelling at her for whatever she's done will make that any better.'

'She was disrupting my class, Tom, what else am I supposed to do?'

'I don't know! Just  _calmly_  talk to her about it.'

'I can try, but I don't think she'll take any notice of what I say to her.'

'And what exactly makes you think that?' Spencer could hear the anger edging into Mr Clarkson's voice now and she shifted uncomfortably in her chair. 'Have you given her the chance to speak to you properly?'

'Well, no, but-'

'Then what's the problem? Yeah, sometimes she can be a bit disruptive, but that doesn't mean she never listens to anybody.'

There was a pause, and Spencer peeked between the blinds to see that Mead looked as though he was lost for words. She couldn't help smiling smugly to herself, mentally thanking Mr Clarkson. She knew that she'd still be getting a lecture, but at least it wasn't going to be as bad as she'd thought it was going to be. After a short pause, she heard him sigh.

'Alright, fine. I need to make it quick anyway, seeing as I've left a class of Sixth Formers unattended..'

'Good. I'll check on her later to see how she is.'

'Thanks for staying with her, Tom..'

'No problem.' Mr Clarkson gave a small smile, looking towards the window as if he knew that Spencer was eavesdropping, before turning around and walking back down the corridor.

By the time Mr Mead came back into the Cooler a minute later, she was typing out a text to Kate on her phone with one hand, the other absentmindedly twirling a lock of her dark hair around her finger. She heard his footsteps approaching the desk she was sat at, pulling out the chair that Mr Clarkson had previously been sat on.

'I thought I told you to give me your phone.'

'And  _I_  thought you heard me say no,' she replied bluntly, moving so that her back was right up against the wall the moment that Mead sat down beside her.

'Come on, Spencer.'

' _What_?' She put her phone down on the desk, looking up to find that his face was inches away from hers, close enough for her to see the flecks of grey in his bright blue eyes. She sucked in a deep breath, having to force herself to look away. 'I'm not giving you my phone, if that's all you came back in here for.'

'No, that's not it at all! All I wanted to say to you was that I made a mistake. I'm sorry for judging you, alright? I've clearly upset you, and I feel really bad about it.'

She blinked, her mouth hanging open in surprise.  _Is he_ apologising  _to me?_ 'I.. What?'

'I understand now that first impressions aren't everything. I promise you I'll try to keep that in mind in the future.' She looked at him again, convinced that this was some kind of joke, only to find him glancing back at her with a completely serious expression on his face.

'Uh, right.. Okay?'

There was an awkward pause, until Mr Mead got up.

'So are you expecting me to stay here or what?' Spencer asked, frowning.

'No, you can come back with me now. We've reached an understanding and I think you've learnt your lesson, right?'

_No_ , she thought to herself. 'Um. Yeah. I guess so.' She shrugged, standing up too.

'Come on, then. We'd best get back.' He smiled, starting to walk towards the door. 


	2. Chapter 2

 

_Just for the record,_

_The weather today is slightly sarcastic with a good chance of:_

_A. Indifference or_

_B. Disinterest in what the critics say._

* * *

The rest of Monday and Tuesday went in a blur for Spencer and Chris. Spencer managed to get sent to the Cooler twice for picking fights with a John Foster's pupil, whereas Chris was busy with examining each of his classes' grades from the previous year, planning lessons and experiments and his duties as Deputy Head. Thankfully for Spencer, she didn't have another Chemistry lesson until the double period fifth and last period on Wednesday afternoon, so she was spared from any encounters that involved speaking to Chris in the slightest.

It was early Wednesday morning by the time Chris got round to looking at the final set of grades, which came from his Year 13 Chemistry class. He'd looked into any possible reasons why some students achieved much lower ones that they were expected in the lower years, so he felt it appropriate to do the same for the rest of his classes. Most of it seemed to be a result of what looked like laziness or disruptive behaviour during lessons, but there were some valid explanations, like a serious illness or family problems.

On this particular morning, fresh from the leadership team meeting, Chris wandered back down to his classroom. There was still plenty of time to start looking at the Year 13s' grades before first period started, as the pupils hadn't arrived yet and he didn't have a form to register.

He unlocked the door, dumping his messenger bag beside his desk and sitting down. He rifled through the stack of paper in front of him, eventually digging one out with the Waterloo Road letterhead printed on the top of it along with each student's full name; date of birth; exam, practical and coursework grades.

He skim-read the grade sections, not taking any notice of the names on there. He was fairly impressed; pretty much everyone except one student had done really well, achieving their target and/or predicted grades or better. Something told him that he knew exactly who this student was, and he traced a finger across the page to find the name  _Spencer Noëlle George_ in the exact same row. Sighing, he took out a pen and marked an asterisk beside her name as a reminder to look into it. Possibilities of how exactly he could do this filled his head, but he concluded that the fair option would be to have a look at her file, just like he had done with everyone else. He also thought of having a quiet word with her if he saw her around school before whenever their next lesson was – he pulled his timetable out of his bag and checked to find it was a double period fifth and sixth that afternoon – but quickly decided against it after remembering the exact same icy glare that she shot him every time they so much as walked past each other going down the corridors.

He still thought that he needed to speak to her about it before going ahead with the idea. Talking to Rachel about it first seemed like a better thing to do though, just in case she didn't think it was right.

He checked the clock on the wall to find that he needed to be in the staffroom for briefing in ten minutes.  _Maybe I could catch Rachel afterwards,_  he thought to himself. He got up again, picking his bag up and slinging it over his shoulder before exiting the classroom. He didn't bother to lock up, as he thought there was still ages before the pupils came in. He walked slowly down the corridor, hoping he'd be able to get himself a coffee before Rachel, Kim and Max got started.

* * *

Halfway through the briefing, Chris noticed Max looking through the far window with a foul expression on his face. Halfway through Rachel's next sentence, Max stormed towards the window and opened it.

'You, girl!' He yelled, making the room fall silent.

'What?' A familiar sounding voice replied.

'Cigarette out.  _Now._ '

'No. One: It's before school hours, and two: I'm eighteen, thanks very much.'

'Don't be smart with me. Put that out, or you're spending first period in the Cooler.'

'Like I said. No.'

Before Max had the chance to say anything else, a stream of smoke blew through the window, right into his face. He started coughing, looking absolutely furious. Half of the Waterloo Road staff looked as if they were trying desperately hard to stop themselves from bursting into peals of laughter, and Chris could hear loud sniggers coming from outside. Max looked positively fit to explode.

'GET TO THE COOLER! RIGHT NOW!' He screamed, pointing at something out of the window.

'It – It would h-help if the doors were unlocked,' came the response, clearly in stitches laughing.

'Chris, open the doors, please.' Max turned around, shaking with anger.

'Uh.. Yeah. Right.' Chris looked at Max, confused. 'Which pupil am I supposed to be letting in?'

'I don't know her name, but she's short, with brown hair. Clearly one of the Year 13s. She had a redhead and a girl with black hair with her.'

Some of the teachers sniggered.

'Good look with that one,' remarked Grantly.

'Please don't tell me you mean –' Chris started to say.

'Come on, Christopher,  _just go_.' He was tempted to answer back, but Max was still fuming so he just sighed, turned on his heel and headed down the corridor and walked towards the entrance.

No sooner had he reached the doors, he was greeted by the sight of Spencer happily stood there, cigarette still in her mouth. He rolled his eyes, then unlocked and opened the doors.

'Why am I not surprised?' He asked her, raising an eyebrow.

He could practically feel her looking him up and down, making him shift uncomfortably on the spot. 'What? It's not my fault my smoke rings are that impressive.' She quipped.

'Very funny,' Chris sighed, giving Spencer a look. 'In. Now.'

'Just let me finish this first.'

' _Spencer_..'

'Alright, alright! I'm coming.' She glared at him, throwing the rest of her cigarette on the floor and stamping it out with her foot.

'Thank you.' Chris stepped aside, holding the door open with one hand.

Spencer walked up the rest of the steps, pausing right in front of him.

'Come on.' He reached his free hand out to beckon her inside, accidentally brushing her lower back and sending a pulse of electricity through her. 'Ma– Mr Tyler's not pleased with you.'

* * *

The next few hours went by very quickly for the pair of them. Spencer earned herself a detention with Mr Tyler after school the next day ('Are you gonna go?' 'Fuck no!') and Chris worked on marking, lesson plans and teaching his classes. It wasn't until his free period the lesson before lunch that Chris had the time to be able to go to have a look at Spencer's file, then have a word with Rachel afterwards.

Once he'd finished talking to a pupil who'd been sat in the Cooler, he wandered over to Rachel's office to find her door closed, raised voices coming from behind it.  _Rachel and Max must be arguing again,_  he thought to himself, sighing.

'Can I help you, Chris?' Bridget asked him.

'What? Oh! Could you tell me where Spencer George's file is, please?'

'Just over there, third drawer down in the second cabinet.' She pointed to the row of filing cabinets to the left of where Chris was stood.

'Thanks,' Chris smiled, opening up the drawer and flicking through the students' files until he found the one with Spencer's name attached to it. 'Do you mind if I take this down to my classroom for a few minutes? I've got a free period now and I can have it back to you by the end of it.'

'Alright, but do I need it back.'

'Thank you.' Chris pulled the file out of the drawer, thanked Bridget again and walked back to his empty classroom. When he was sat back at his desk, he opened up the file and began to read.

* * *

 **Full name:**  Spencer Noëlle George

 **Date of birth:**  September 3rd, 1991

 **Tutor group/form:**  S4

 **Emergency contact(s):**  Renée George (Mother), Matthew George (Father)

 **Sibling(s):**  Olivie Leanne George (DoB - August 12th 1994)

 **Attendance:**  84% (Year 12 - Academic year 2008/9)

 **Previous education:** Lycée Français Charles de Gualle, South Kensington, London: September 1996 - July 2003

 **GCSE grades:** French - A*, Chemistry - A, Geography - B, Biology - C, Drama - C, English - C, IT - C, Mathematics - C, Music - C, Physics - D

 **AS grades:** French - A, Drama - C, Music - C, Chemistry - D

(See next page for  **AS modular grades** )

 **Previous or current medical/behavioural conditions:** N/A.

* * *

Chris frowned, closing the file. There seemed to be no explanation for Spencer's poor grade last year, aside from what Tom had vaguely said to him on Monday. He checked the clock to find that there was still 15 minutes left of the lesson, so he quickly returned the file and checked on a student in the Cooler.

Instead of wandering down to the staffroom like he had for the past two days, Chris found himself heading upstairs to Rachel's office. He walked through the waiting area, smiling at Bridget before knocking on Rachel's door.

'Come in!' Her voice called from inside. Chris pushed the door open, stepping into the office, and quickly closed it behind him. Rachel was sat behind her desk, a cup of coffee in her hand with paperwork scattered in front of her.

'Chris, hi. What can I do for you?' She smiled, gesturing to a chair opposite her. Chris moved across the room, sitting down.

'I wanted to have a word with you about Spencer George..' He replied, shifting slightly in the chair.

'Right..' Rachel leant forwards, resting her elbows on the desk.

'I looked at the AS grades that my A2 Chemistry class got and I noticed that she only just scraped a D.. Then I had a look at her file earlier, and it says that the only subject she did well in last year was French.'

'Well, her mother's French and she went to a primarily French-speaking school in London for six years, so that explains the high grade in the subject. She's always spent a lot of time in the Cooler too, but last year in particular wasn't exactly a good year for her.' Rachel frowned, putting her cup down.

'Yeah, Tom said that on Monday. We didn't exactly get off on the right foot in the first lesson. She was late, disruptive and didn't seem to care about the class. I'm concerned, Rachel. Her knowledge of the subject seems to be very limited.'

'So what do you suggest we do about it?' Rachel asked, intrigued.

'Well, I was thinking that maybe I could arrange some kind of one-to-one after school sessions with her. Build her confidence up a little bit, seeing as she's so convinced that she can't do this, and maybe work on her retaking the AS exam at some point. This would be as well as going over topics that we covered in lessons.'

'Sounds good to me. What if she doesn't co-operate, though?'

'Then we'll find a way around it,' he stated defiantly, his expression faltering slightly as he noticed the look on her face. 'You don't think I can do this, do you?'

'Of course I think you can! All I'm saying is that Spencer is one of our most difficult pupils, so don't be surprised if she doesn't respond to the idea.'

'And what should I do if that happens?'

'I don't know. We could always work out another way. Let's not think of that now, just come back to me with any progress with it, will you? I'm interested as to how it'll work out.'

'Will do.' Chris grinned, standing up. 'Thank you, Rachel.'

* * *

Shortly after afternoon registration had finished, Chris' Year 13 Chemistry class slowly filtered through the door and into their seats. Surprisingly, Nat and Kate were exactly on time. Spencer, however, came in five minutes later, looking considerably ruffled.

'Spencer, you're late again,' Chris called. She just gave him a look as if to say 'and what're you going to do about it?'

Nat and Kate sniggered, and he turned to give them a warning look.

'Just.. Hurry up and sit down.'

Once the class had settled down again, Chris stood up and walked over to the board, writing 'Energetics' at the top in neat capital letters.

'Right.. The first unit we're going to be looking at this year is Energetics. It's an exam unit, so I'm expecting you all to be taking notes from now on.'

There was a series of grumbles as the class rummaged through their bags, depositing their books on the desks in front of them.

'That's better,' Chris smiled. He patiently waited for them to write down the date and title of the unit then continued to speak, jotting things down on the board for the class to copy.

'The first topic we're going to be looking at in this unit is lattice enthalpy and Born-Haber cycles. Lattice enthalpy is the energy required to make gaseous ions of the elements, and there are five steps of the Born-Haber cycle required to do this. The Born-Haber cycle was named after and developed by Max Born and Fitz Haber, and it's an approach to analysing reaction energies. Hess's Law states that the sum of the enthalpies found in these steps will equal the overall lattice enthalpy for the ionic compound. Endothermic steps are represented using an arrow pointing upwards -' He carefully started to draw a diagram on the board '- and an exothermic step is represented using an arrow pointing downwards. Each step is a different atomisation or ionisation enthalpy for the metallic part of the compound or an electron affinity for the non-metallic part of the compound. So, for sodium chloride, it's the enthalpy change when 1 mole of sodium chloride is broken up to form its scattered gaseous ions. In other words, you are looking at an upward arrow on the diagram. Everyone with me so far?'

Most of the class nodded, still frantically writing down the information he'd put on the board.

'Good. So the lattice dissociation enthalpy is the enthalpy change needed to convert 1 mole of solid crystal into its scattered gaseous ions. Lattice dissociation enthalpies are always positive. The lattice dissociation enthalpy for sodium chloride is +787 kJ mol-1.' He continued to explain how to work out lattice dissociation enthalpies for various compounds, then stepped back from the board to allow the class to catch up with him once again.

'Where the hell  _were_  you earlier?' He heard Nat hiss to Spencer.

'I.. I was with Wes,' came the embarrassed sounding reply. Kate gave a low whistle.

'Come on, then, how did it go?' She asked eagerly, playfully nudging Spencer in the ribs.

'Good, yeah. We ki-'

'Is there something you want to share with the class, girls?' Chris called, earning himself not one, but three glares.

'No, sir.' Kate and Nat sighed. Spencer just folded her arms, giving him a pointed look.

'Okay, now everyone's hopefully got this down, what d'you think are the main factors that affect the overall lattice enthalpy of a compound? Spencer?'

'Haven't got a bloody clue.' She shrugged nonchalantly.

Chris' eyes scanned around the class, thankfully finding four hands raised in the air. 'Hanna?'

Tall and blonde, Hanna was an ex-John Foster's pupil and the student who had got the highest AS grade in the class. 'The main factor that can affect the overall lattice enthalpy is size and charge of the ions that make it, as smaller ions are closer together and so it takes more energy to break them apart.' She recited, a hopeful yet questioning look on her face.

'Well done.' Chris grinned. 'To put it more specifically, the two main factors affecting lattice enthalpy are the charges on the ions and the ionic radii, which affects the distance between the ions. Sodium chloride and magnesium oxide have exactly the same arrangements of ions in the crystal lattice, but the lattice enthalpies are very different. The lattice enthalpy of magnesium oxide is also increased relative to sodium chloride because magnesium ions are smaller than sodium ions, and oxide ions are smaller than chloride ions. That means that the ions are closer together in the lattice, and that increases the strength of the attractions between them.'

* * *

'Spencer, can I speak to you for a moment please?' Chris called out as the class began to slowly file out of the room just overer an hour and a half later. Spencer rolled her eyes and turned around, folding her arms.

'Why?' She asked, remaining still by the door.

'I just want a word, that's all,' Chris replied, putting the pile of textbooks down on his desk. She paused for a moment, then eventually took a small step forwards.

'Fine,' she sighed, a touch of annoyance appearing on her voice. They locked eyes for a for a moment, but she still didn't move.

'I don't bite, you know,' Chris muttered, raising his eyebrows at her. All he got in response was a snort and Spencer rolling her eyes yet again. 'Alright, have it your way,' he said, swiftly moving forward so that he was stood beside her. 'Look, all I wanted to say is that I'm concerned about your progress with Chemistry. You only just scraped a D at AS and Miss Mason tells me that the main reason for it is that you spent most of those lessons in the Cooler.'

'So?' Spencer shrugged. 'S'not like I'm gonna get a decent grade in this anyway.'

'I think we'll find that's not true, don't you think? You proved yourself to be pretty talanted at this subject.. You got an A at GCSE.'

She said nothing, just backed away slightly and glared at him.

'Look, all I wanted to talk to you about is that considering you're going to be applying for university this year, I think you could benefit from some extra lessons after school to help you get your grade up in this subject.'

'What, with you?' She asked, frowning.

'Yes, with me. We can go through the things you find difficult, and-'

'No.' She cut across him. 'I can't do after school, anyway. I.. I have to go to work.'

He sighed, knowing that she was lying. 'Lunch or breaktimes, then?'

'How am I going to get any of my other work done?'

'Well, isn't that what free periods are for?' Her mouth opened, but no words came out. He smiled slightly, knowing he was right. 'How about a compromise? We do 1 session and if you don't like it, we can work something else out.'

She hesitated for a moment, thinking about it. 'Oh, alright.. If it gets you off my back for five minutes.'

'Good. How does after school on Monday sound?' He smiled.

'Can't. I've got band practice.' Spencer stated truthfully.

'Spencer..'

'I have! Ask Nat and Kate if you don't believe me. Or failing that, Mr Wilding.'

'Okay, fine.. Tuesday, then?'

'Yes, whatever.' She muttered, waving a hand dismissively. 'Can I go now,  _please_?'

'Yeah, go on then.' Chris grinned. 'See you later.' 


End file.
